Noroi (2005)
AKA: Noroi: The Curse

Film details
View on IMDb ↗CastJin Muraki, Rio Kanno, Tomono Kuga, Marika Matsumoto, Angâruzu, Hiroshi Aramata, Yôko Chôsokabe, Dankan, Tomomi Eguchi, Gôkyû
KeywordsJ-Horror, Mystery, Folk Horror
Review
"Noroi's sense of realism may be unmatched in found-footage, and the journey of its idealistic, headstrong protagonist makes for gripping viewing; it's the inseparable nature of the film's form and content, however, that makes it a contender for one of the best horror films I've ever seen. Kobayashi's film must feel real or else his journey would feel fake. If Noroi possessed the slightest suggestion of falsehood, the audience would have free reign to retreat to a comfortable spectator's position, ready to let this fiction play out without any personal consequence. By convincing us of its veracity and giving us a protagonist whose drive for earth-shaking answers mirrors our own, Noroi directly interrogates our hunger for truth. In seeking truth, Noroi concludes, we become swallowed up by it. We've sought out Pandora's box and wrest it open, and we deserve whatever comes out." - Julian Singleton, Cinapse
Ranking history
The 1,000 Greatest Horror Films
Top 1,000Outside Top 1,000Missing ranking data
Dashed lines indicate missing ranking data. Select a point to view that year's published list. The 1,000 Greatest Horror Films list was not updated in 2022.
The 21st Century’s Greatest Horror Films
Published rankingNot ranked (outside published list)
The list was not updated from 2016 to 2019 or in 2022. It expanded from a Top 250 to a Top 500 in 2021. Full rankings beyond the published lists are not available. Dotted segments and hollow points indicate editions in which the film was outside the published list; their exact ranks are unknown.